Education Quotas (3 of 3):
California - Oldest News

California (all 8 UC campuses):  UC End Run Around Prop. 209:  Top 4% of H.S. Grads to be Admitted
          "The idea is to increase the pool of eligible freshmen in the state and blunt the (so-called) anti-affirmative action wave that swept California" with the overwhelming approval of Proposition 209 which ended the use of racial quotas in state university admissions.  (San Francisco Chronicle 12/11/98)

California (Berkeley):  Some UC Campuses More "Diverse"  (03/17/99 - dead link)
          BERKELEY (AP) -- In the aftermath of Prop. 209:  "Early admissions figures released by six University of California campuses Tuesday showed blacks and Latinos making some gains in the second year of the system's affirmative action ban.

          "Sharp increases were seen at UC-Riverside, which admitted 471 black students, up 37 percent from 343 last fall, and 1,863 Hispanics, up 14 percent from 1,630. There were 2,468 white students admitted, up 33 percent from 1,850; and 4,975 Asians, up 21 percent from 4,123 last fall.    'We're really pleased,' said admissions director Laurie Nelson. She credited the increases to solid recruitment efforts.  'Recruiters go out all over the state looking for students who are UC material and telling the Riverside story. It's been a very effective tool for us.'

          "Other schools reported varying results. UC-Davis, for example, had little change in black and Latino admissions, while San Diego admitted fewer blacks but more Latinos.  (San Jose Mercury News, 03/17/99)
[former link *http://www7.mercurycenter.com/premium/local/docs/admission17.htm]

California (Berkeley):  Minorities Sue for Emphasis on Test Scores!  (02/03/99) (dead link)
          Angered over the first year of admissions under Prop. 209 which bans the use of racial preferences, a band of minorities and a flock of civil rights attorneys are attempting a test case against the Berkeley campus. 

          "Eight black, Latino and Filipino-American students sued UC Berkeley on Tuesday, accusing the University of California's flagship campus of discriminatory admissions policies that prevented them from being admitted last year. ... [T]he class action lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco alleges that Berkeley's admissions officers violate civil rights laws with "unjustified reliance upon standardized test scores" and grading policies that favor the privileged." The group chose to not directly attack Prop. 209, instead relying upon their hope that they can prove that standardized test scores are racially discriminatory.

          "[Nonetheless] six of the eight plaintiffs denied admission to Berkeley are now freshmen at another UC campus, including three at UC Davis and one each at UC San Diego, UC Irvine and UCLA. A seventh has been accepted to begin classes at UCLA next spring."
[former link http://www.latimes.com/CNS_DAYS/990203/t000010568.html]
[alternate, pay site: http://www.chronicle.com/daily/99/02/99020301n.htm ]

California (Berkeley):  Boalt Hall -- Fixing the Neo-Fascist Campus!  (03/02/99 - dead link)
          "NEWS from America's universities arrives with a grim thud once a month, like an exploding artillery shell, in a monthly newsletter called "Heterodoxy" published by the Center for the Study of Popular Culture in Los Angeles.

          "This month's issue reports on the University of California's prestigious Boalt Hall Law School at Berkeley, where conservative views are suppressed by a cadre of pompous little Mussolinis-in-training who dominate the student body. "Respect for diverse opinions," writes law student Nick-Anthony Buford, "is subverted, and trampled by the new intolerance of the activist student thought-police." When conservatives tried to speak up, another student writes, "things got ugly."

          "These student statements are collected in a book about the Boalt Hall experience called "The Diversity Hoax," edited by David Wienir and Marc Berley. It might alternatively have been titled "Neo-Fascism in America." The first time around was high tragedy; naturally this new version is farce."  (New York Post, commentary, 03/02/99, by David Gelernter)
[former link *http://www.nypostonline.com/commentary/5650.htm]

California (Berkeley):  Boalt Hall School of Law Forced to Admit Whites (08/18/98 - dead link)
          Prop. 209 ended racial quotas in all state government activities, including education.  In spite of this, UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall Law School has managed to increase it's minority student enrollment 37% over the 1997 incoming class.  New admissions policies which skirt the intent of Prop. 209 are credited with the increase.  The school now de-emphasizes academic test scores in it's admissions and emphasizes nebulous and definitely non-academic factors such as "character".  Hmm.  Since "Character" must be evaluated by human beings, and is not subject to fair, standardized criteria, we wonder if UC Berkeley has stumbled upon the newest, latest and legally "unprosecutable" version of racial admissions policies.  (The Sacramento Bee 8/18/98)
[former link: *http://www.sacbee.com/news/beetoday/newsroom/local/081898/local03.html]

California (Berkeley):  Student Admission Quotas Did Not Increase Minority Graduation Rates!
          Analysts say admission rates are being overemphasized. More important is how many minorities actually acquire a degree. When unqualified students were admitted on the basis of race, the results proved disastrous.  Only 58 percent of African-American students from the freshman classes entering Berkeley between 1987 and 1990 managed to complete their degree requirements within six years.  (National Center for Policy Analysis, April 1998)

California (Fresno):  Black University to Open in Fresno (dead link)
          "The nation's oldest private African-American college appears poised to open a campus in Fresno that eventually could serve 2,000 students and bring new life to a blighted neighborhood.  'It'll be just a milestone in terms of what's needed there,' said Dan Ronquillo, the Fresno City Council member who represents the area.  The university is open to all races."   (Fresno Bee, 01-11-99 by Anne Dudley Ellis)
[former link *http://www.fresnobee.com/localnews/story/0,1225,59453,00.html ]

California (Huntington Beach):  District Staff Recommends Modified Racial Quota Scheme (posted 04/19/99)
         Trustee Harper to Continue Fight to Implement Proposition 209 and Protect Students from Racial Discrimination.   "HBUHSD district officials have placed on the agenda a new racial quota scheme to replace the existing one for the April 20, 1999 meeting of the board of trustees. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 7:30pm at the District Education Center, 10251 Yorktown Avenue, Huntington Beach. You can contact the district at (714) 964-3339.

          "The education bureaucrats just don’t get it," Harper declared, "The days of racial quotas are long gone."  Since the mid-nineties, federal courts have continued to strike down racial preference, discrimination, and quotas in public education as violations of the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection under the laws.

          "The HBUHSD, however, continues to deny dozens of students’ school transfer requests solely on the basis of race or ethnicity according to a racial quota established by the school board.   "It’s like they don’t think Proposition 209 applies to them," Harper lamented. On the state level, Californians passed November 1996’s Proposition 209, the California Civil Rights Initiative. HBUHSD voters passed the measure by a margin of greater than 2-to-1.

          "Proposition 209 specifically prohibits school districts from enforcing discrimination or preference on the basis of race or ethnicity, regardless of which race or ethnicity concerned, unless compelled by federal court order."  (by Matthew Harper, Governing Board Member, Huntington Beach Union High School District, Phone & Fax: (714) 969-8387; E-mail: harper2000@msn.com ) 
[link http://www.matthewharper.org ]

California (Huntington Beach):  H.S. Parents Demand Compliance with Prop. 209  (02/04/99 - dead link)
          "Huntington Beach Union High School District board member Matthew Harper's pursuit to remove race and ethnicity considerations from the district's open-enrollment policy will begin at Tuesday's district board meeting. ‘What I want to do is replace the language that currently exists that calls for race- and ethnicity-based quotas, with a prohibition on discrimination and preferential treatment on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin and gender,’ Harper said.

          "The policy has kept some white students from transferring to other schools in the district because the district seeks to keep the schools ethnically balanced. It has been scrutinized since several parents expressed outrage when their children could not transfer last school year. Proposition 209, which outlawed [use of racial preferences], should prevent these types of situations from happening, Harper said.  (LA Times, 02/04/99, by Marissa Espino)
[former link http://www.latimes.com/HOME/COMMUN/PAPERS/HBIND/NEWS/tCB0029006.1.html]
[former alternate:  http://www.latimes.com/HOME/COMMUN/PAPERS/HBIND/NEWS/tCB0029006.html]

California (Long Beach):  School board aims at compliance with Prop. 227 (12/17/98 - dead link)
          "The Long Beach Unified School Board on Tuesday night approved programs that will bring the district into full compliance with Proposition 227, months after the deadline.  (Press-Telegram posted 12/17/98)
[former link: *http://www.ptconnect.com/news/stories/xlbusd.htm]

California (Los Angeles):  Poor Grades "Prove" Racial Discrimination! (04/17/99 - dead link)
          LA Times Headline "Protesters cite poor grades as evidence of bias against blacks and Latinos at Westside campus." -- Students maintain that poor academic performance is due to racism!

          The LA Times reports the following:   "Chanting "No justice, no classes!" about 300 students and some parents staged a boisterous demonstration Friday at Hamilton High School to protest what they call an education system that favors whites over Latinos and African Americans and is rife with racist [white] teachers.

          "Under the watchful eyes of Los Angeles police officers and school officials, the students skipped morning classes to march and wave placards that said, "This District Condones Racism." "Many of our teachers practice racism, and we're fed up with it," said 17-year-old Kwabena Haffar. "We're not talking to [the Los Angeles Unified School District] about anything, man," Haffar said. "We want to talk to Gov. Davis and state Sen. Tom Hayden."

          "In a telephone interview later, Hayden said, "I appreciate the issues the students are trying to bring up. I've invited some of them to testify in Sacramento this week on legislation addressing the lack of resources in inner-city schools." (LA Times 04/17/99 by Louis Sahagun)
[former link *http://www.latimes.com/CNS_DAYS/990417/t000034519.html ]

California (Los Angeles):  Racial Harmony Hard to Achieve with Quotas!  (02/14/99) (dead link)
          "From Crenshaw to the San Fernando Valley, administrative offices to classrooms, the often-bitter emotions of racial strife plague the Los Angeles Unified School District. District officials have worked to defuse racial and ethnic tensions with everything from squads of mediators who can travel to troubled campuses to appointments of administrators with an eye toward racial balance--a Latino vice principal, for example, to complement a black principal."   The one thing they have not explored is race-neutral student admissions and race-neutral faculty hiring policies!!!   (LA Times, 02/14/99, by Louis Sahagun)
[former link http://www.latimes.com/HOME/NEWS/FRONT/t000014165.html]

California (Los Angeles):  Inglewood Orders Year-Round Multicure; Cancels Black History Month (02/14/99 - dead link)
          "Rather than have celebrations dedicated to one ethnic group, [Principal Lowell Winston’s] memo called for teachers to follow a ‘multicultural education approach’ throughout the school year.   'I'm saying, why should we have black history taught in just one month?'   Winston, who is black, said in an interview.  'Let's talk about all cultures and contributions all the time.' "  (LA Times, 02/14/99, by Kurt Streeter)
[former link http://www.latimes.com/excite/990214/t000014140.html]

California (Los Angeles):  Reverse Racism Charges Against Pasadena Schools (01/26/99 - dead link)
          "Several parents launched a court battle against Pasadena’s school system Monday, alleging the schools practice reverse-racist admissions policies and and that inquiries into the racial or ethnic origin of students applying to the district’s most popular schools is inherently discriminatory. 

          " 'Two years ago, Proposition 209 did away with racial preferences or discrimination in public education in California. But apparently this school district thinks it’s above the law,' said parent Sylvia Scott.  Scott, a black woman and foster parent to six children of different races, joined other parents at a news conference in front of Don Benito Elementary School on Denair Street to announce the filing of a federal lawsuit.

          "Don Benito [Elementary School is] one of the most sought-after schools in the Pasadena Unified School District, requires applicants to indicate whether they are Hispanic, white, black, Asian, American Indian or multiracial. Rene Amy, a parent of two white students, said in 'essence, this district is using the color of a child’s skin to determine the education they receive.' "   ( MSNBC, 01/26/99)
[former link http://www.msnbc.com/local/KNBC/80372.asp]

California (Los Angeles):  Parents blame school for blacks' poor scores (dead link)
          "The parents are blaming the Westside school for black students' generally low ... test scores ... (and) why black students are suspended more often than others."  (LA Times 12/20/98)
[Former link:   http://www.latimes.com/HOME/NEWS/STATE/t000116112.1.html]

California (Monterey):  Faculty group demands resignation of CSU Monterey Bay president (posted 04/11/99)
         "A faculty organization at CSU Monterey Bay has demanded the resignation of university president Peter Smith, claiming the school hasn't lived up to its commitments to diversity.  "The gap between the professed vision and the day-to-day realization grows larger each year," said a statement by the Chicano-Latino Faculty and Staff Association. "The vision is a contract that has been broken."

          "Among the group's concerns were attrition among minority staff members, the university's failure to champion diversity issues, and the lack of facilities and programs to support children of migrant families recruited to CSUMB."  (Sacramento Bee posted 0411/99)
[link http://www.sacbee.com/news/calreport/calrep_story.cgi?N100.HTML ]

California (Oakland):  Mother of Ebonics retires from school board (dead link)
          "Oakland -- Toni Cook, known by the nation as the mother of Ebonics, bade goodbye to the Oakland school board Wednesay night.  Cook was the driving force behind a number of proposals that made major changes in the district, from the Ebonics policy to mandatory uniforms.  Her outspoken positions often ... made her the subject of considerable controversy. 

          " 'Thanks to Toni, I have been in more trouble in more states and more countries than I ever expected to be', said Jean Quan, president of the board during the national firestorm over Ebonics."   (Oakland Tribune 12/18/98)
[former link:  http://www.newschoice.com/Webnews/angtrloc2/98-12-18_t1bs118.asp?paper=Ang]

California (Pasadena):  Parents Sue Schools over Racial Admissions Lottery (posted 01/28/99)
          "The school district's new lottery-based admissions policy for some schools that takes into account a student's ethnicity and gender violates Proposition 209, the state's ban against using such factors in school admissions, a group of parents claims.

          "The parents on Monday filed a federal lawsuit against Pasadena Unified School District claiming that school admissions should be on a first-come, first-serve basis.

          "The district in December announced a new lottery-type system aimed at integrating the schools, including Don Benito Fundamental, Marshall Fundamental Secondary School and Norma Coombs Alternative School.   Under the new system, parents must submit an application requiring they indicate whether the child is Hispanic, white, black, Asian, American Indian or multiracial. Students are chosen at random by a computer program that factors in ethnicity and gender.

          " 'Two years ago, Proposition 209 did away with racial preferences or discrimination in public education in California, but apparently the school district thinks it is above the law,'  said plaintiff Sylvia Scott, who is a foster parent of six children with different ethnic backgrounds.   The suit was filed by Kevin Snider of the United States Justice Foundation, a legal group based in Escondido in San Diego County."  (Associated Press, via Sacramento Bee, posted 01/28/99)
[link http://www.sacbee.com/news/calreport/calrep_story.cgi?N186.HTML ]

California (Sacramento):  Bilingual Ed Still Taught Despite Prop. 227 Law! (dead link)
          "Six months after California voters sounded the death knell for bilingual education with Proposition 227, such programs ... have far from disappeared!"  Says 227 sponsor Ron Unz "I think we've gotten rid of most of the bilingual programs ... (but) implementation (by the courts) has been inconsistent and there are a lot of districts blatantly ignoring the law."   (Sacramento Bee 12/06/98)
[former link:   http://www.sacbee.com/news/news/local02_19981206.html ]

California (Sacramento):  Black Faculty at UC Davis Want More "Post Prop 209" Minorities (09/30/98 - dead link)
          The chairman of UC Davis' "African American and African Studies" program wants UC to "go beyond" Prop 209 and find ways to continue to admit students based on racial criteria!   Chairman Stewart went on to say that teachers and professors should manipulate their course content to include propaganda about the importance of providing racial quotas and racial student admissions in order to "educate" the students about racial and cultural diversity.  We hope that Stweart and his friends fail to overturn our Constitutional protections against such racial discrimination.  (The Sacramento Bee 9/30/98) 
[former link *http://www.sacbee.com/news/beetoday/newsroom/local/093098/local05.html]

California (San Francisco):  S.F. Schools Float New Diversity Plan (09/20/99)
          "Some complain that race still used as one criterion [directly contravening Proposition 209].

          "San Francisco school officials, under a court order to create a race-neutral plan for enrolling students at the campus of their choice, are proposing a ``diversity index'' to rank children by poverty, English proficiency, test scores -- and race.

          "The idea is to keep the schools diverse but consider factors other than race when making school assignments, school officials said.

          "'You would get approved based on whether you can help affect the diversity of the school,' said Jennie Horn of the district's Educational Placement Office.

          "Already, however, some community groups and attorneys say considering race in any form violates an agreement reached before a federal judge, and they will oppose the plan in court.

          "The proposal is a 'blueprint to destroy the concept of neighborhood schools in the name of diversity,' said the Chinese American Democratic Club, a group that speaks for families opposed to using race in school assignments.

          "San Francisco is being forced to change its admissions rules for the first time since 1983, when district officials programmed a computer to make race a central consideration. Under the old system, no school could have more than 45 percent of any one ethnicity, and each school had to have at least four ethnic groups represented."  (San Francisco Chronicle 09/20/99 by Nanette Asimov)
[link http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1999/09/20/MN26867.DTL ]

California (San Francisco):  Unconstitutional Racial Admissions Quandary (0614/99 - dead link)
          SAN FRANCISCO - "Public school officials here are stumped: How do they design an admissions policy to include more blacks and Hispanics in the city's top high school without using race in the formula?

          "After an April court settlement prohibited using race to admit students to the 143-year-old Lowell High exam school in San Francisco, administrators have tried to work around the ruling.

          "Greater preference was given to students from single-parent homes. Students could move up the academic-based admissions list if they were poor, could not speak English, or had other extenuating circumstances.

          "The quandary has a familiar ring in Boston, where school officials are struggling to establish a similar policy after a court in January threw out a race-based admissions policy to the prestigious Boston Latin exam school.

          "San Francisco, in many ways, is a test case for Boston. Opposition to the race-based admissions policy surfaced earlier and school officials spent two years examining private schools and college admissions formulas before designing their own. While the preference formula did not work in San Francisco, in part because the city's large Asian population at every economic level skews the formula, some modification of it will probably be tried in Boston."  (Boston Globe 06/14/99 by Beth Daley)
[former link *http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/165/metro/Calif_Admissions_quandary_could_resonate_in_Hub+.shtml ]

California (San Francisco):  White Prof. Wins $2.75 Mill - Reverse Discrimination

          Story 1:  (03/31/99) "A jury has awarded $2.75 million to a white lecturer at San Francisco State University, agreeing with his claim that he was a victim of racial discrimination when he was denied tenure and that he was unfairly fired from some teaching positions. ...

          "The jury voted 11 to 1 in favor of the discrimination charge and 12 to 0 on the claim of retaliation. The university may appeal the decision. ... A tenured professor testified that the then-dean of the business school told him McNier would not be considered for the tenure-track position in 1996 because ``the university will not approve the hiring of another male Caucasian.'' (San Francisco Chronicle, 03/31/99, Jonathan Curiel)
[link http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1999/03/31/MN13386.DTL ]

          Story 2:  (03/30/99) "A San Francisco State University lecturer has been awarded $2.75 million in a reverse discrimination case in which a college dean allegedly said he would hire "a white guy over my dead body." ... Among the comments reported in the lawsuit, the dean allegedly said, "I will hire a white guy over my dead body." ... McNier's three-week jury trial, held in San Francisco Superior Court before Judge John E. Munter, named only the university as the defendant. The jury voted 11-1 in favor of the discrimination verdict. The retaliation verdict was unanimous." (San Francisco Examiner, 3/30/99, by Victoria Colliver)
[link http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/examiner/hotnews/stories/30/suit.dtl ]

California (San Francisco):  S.F. Schools Propose Race-Neutral Enrollment!  (02/02/99)
          "Beginning in September, ethnic quotas would no longer be used to desegregate San Francisco public schools, according to a ``race-neutral'' enrollment plan the school district reluctantly filed in court yesterday by order of a federal judge.

          "The plan -- which would end 15 years of mandatory desegregation and could dry up the annual $37 million in government funding for equal education programs to the city schools -- goes into effect only if the district loses at trial February 16.

          "The trial will decide the fate of the district's desegregation plan, which was challenged in court in 1994 by Chinese American families that called its ethnic quota system discriminatory and unconstitutional.  U.S. District Judge William Orrick had given the district until yesterday to come up with a race-neutral plan because, he said, there is a ``strong likelihood'' that the Chinese American families will win at trial."  (San Francisco Chronicle, 02/02/99, by Nanette Asimov)
[link http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1999/02/02/MN92761.DTL ]

California (San Francisco):  Ethnic Quotas in S.F. Schools Under Siege (12/18/99)
          Judge says actual, current discrimination must be proven.  Educators must give up quotas unless they can prove that the school district still discriminates against black and Latino students.  (San Francisco Chronicle 12/18/98)
[ http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1998/12/18/MN93259.DTL ]

California (San Francisco):  Lowell High School - Vortex of Anti-Quota Angst (02/18/99)

California (San Jose):  San Jose State U Faces Reverse Discrimination Suit (dead link)
          "A San Jose State University employee is suing the school for passing him up for a promotion and allegedly hiring a Hispanic instead to meet affirmative action goals."  Plaintiff Steve Bartz is, in fact, part American Indian but AA required an Hispanic, in spite of Prop. 209's prohibitions against quotas.  (San Jose Mercury News 12/05/98)
[former link:   http://www5.mercurycenter.com/premium/local/docs/lawsuit05.htm]

California (Santa Barbara, UC):  The tyranny of diversity on today's college campuses (dead link)
         (See the 2nd letter to the editor at this link.)  Female student of Chicano Studies and Women's Studies decries the political correctness of "diversity" and the knee-jerk, shallow attitudes it fosters.   She writes "...Anglo is used as a racist invective in classes ... and non-feminist viewpoints are routinely shouted down."  (Santa Barbara News-Press 11/27/98)
[former link http://news.newspress.com/editorial/11-27letters.htm]

California (Santa Clara County):  Cultural lessons   (04/17/99 - dead link)
          "The growing number of children from diverse ethnic backgrounds in Santa Clara County's classrooms is pushing teachers to adopt more culturally [race] based approaches, and in the process shaping a new direction for local schools.

          "Teachers are using role playing to enhance their chalkboard lectures for students who speak little or no English. Lessons are being expanded to paint more ethnically inclusive pictures of the past, present and future. And educators are finding new ways to involve immigrant parents who might not be comfortable at PTA meetings or other school functions.  ``Diversity of our students is going to demand diversity in our instructional strategies and that's absolutely a given,'' said Colleen B. Wilcox, Santa Clara County schools superintendent."  (San Jose Mercury News 04/17/99 by Edwin Garcia)
[former link *http://www7.mercurycenter.com/premium/local/docs/schools17.htm]

California (Stanford):  Stanford Opposes Racial Quotas; Labor Dept. Attacks  (02/02/99 - dead link)
          Stanford's outgoing provost, Condoleezza Rice, has been quite outspoken that Stanford should NOT use racial quotas!   The U.S. Labor Department has retaliated by launching an investigation, which is the equivalent of an IRS audit for harassment purposes.

          The politically incorrect statements of Condoleezza Rice included repeatedly stating "her reservations about the 'goals and timetables' traditionally at the heart of affirmative action."

          "[Ms.] Rice has also said that while she supports diversity efforts at the entry level, she strongly opposes affirmative action at the time of promotion to lifetime tenure jobs."  According to the Labor Department, racial quotas for tenure track positions must be applied at the time of the promotion.

          "Rice's statements 'contain the suggestion that she doesn't believe in affirmative action programs and the university didn't have one,' said Gary Buff, the Labor Department attorney who forwarded the case for investigation.  'If that's the case, that's a potential violation,'  he said. Goals and timetables on affirmative action, he added, are required under federal law" whether they are constitutional or not.  (Mercury Center, 02/02/99, by Michelle Levander)
[former link http://www.mercurycenter.com/premium/local/docs/faculty02.htm]

END of California Education: OLDEST News (3)